


color me your color

by carnivorousBelvedere



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Just a lil something, Love Confessions, Minor Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Multi, One Shot, Sexual Content, Soul Bond, feel good fic, incubus, roxy and callie are wonderful parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21544753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carnivorousBelvedere/pseuds/carnivorousBelvedere
Summary: Karkat is coming into his full demonhood at a very inconvenient time.It's not easy out here for demons in the first place, and it's even worse to be his specific kind of demon.Anincubus.
Relationships: Calliope/Roxy Lalonde, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 7
Kudos: 252





	color me your color

**Author's Note:**

> [Call Me - Franz Ferdinand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sfgJGFNwww)

Karkat’s life goes to shit all at once.

Kanaya swoops past him in the dorm hallway and grabs him by the hand, dragging him back in the direction of his room.

“Hey--” he starts to protest as she drags him. “I was gonna go eat!”

“No you’re not. We’re going to Rose’s place.”

“Rose? Why the fuck are we going to Rose’s place?” 

Kanaya comes to a stop at the front of his dorm room and nods at the door. Another student, a human student athlete, walks by them with airpods in, ignoring the two taking up half of the hallway. 

“Aren’t you going to tell me what the fuck is going on first?”

“Well if you hadn’t heard yet from the rock you live under, Demons are being hunted in the streets. Ten in the city reported dead today.” she says somberly. “We’re going to hide out at Rose’s until it’s over.” 

Karkat gapes at his friend. Upon observing the stiffer than usual way the space demon holds herself, he pulls out his keys to unlock the dorm room with an icy fear filling his veins. 

_Fuck_. This couldn’t have come at a worse time for him. 

The sensation was just starting to set in again, he couldn’t go into hiding, he was supposed to-- 

“Karkat, focus. Pack up. We’re going to meet them outside in ten.”

Kanaya disappears, presumably to go grab her stuff from an upper floor (fuck living on the first floor, it may be convenient but it sure as fuck is loud, and Karkat knows a couple things about loud) so he sets about grabbing a weekend bag from his alotted dorm wardrobe. At least he’ll get excused from class for a few days, he was about to pull an all-nighter finishing an essay. 

Unless they still make that due online. 

His roommate is nowhere to be found. He’ll have to text John later and let him know where he went, though he’s probably too busy with fraternity rush season to care about Karkat. 

Ugh. Frats. 

Trying to stem the tremors in his hands, Karkat fishes his phone out of his pocket and drops it as the emergency alert suddenly goes off. Piece of shit phone. 

He picks it back up and silences the alarm, reading the text.

ALERT: ACTIVE HUNTERS IN CITY SOUTH AREA. ALL DEMONKIND SHOULD TAKE CAUTION UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 

Then a text message from his school, warning something similar. Great. He also has a couple of texts coming in from other concerned friends, he’ll have to check those later.

He tries not to let it all nauseate him, but it’s too difficult not to be slightly sickened by such news. 

Especially when Karkat knows he would be on those hunter’s lists if it was found out what kind of demon he really was. 

He puts his chargers and laptop in his backpack and grabs a couple of sweaters along with his other clothes. It’s been pretty rainy and chilly out with the fall season and its dry, crisp air is blending into the first appearances of winter. Karkat is also convinced the less skin he shows the better. For some reason it makes him feel like his demon is easier control, but part of him is quite sure it’s all mental. 

He stands up too quickly and gets woozy for a second. God fucking dammit, he really should have eaten something. 

_I hate being a demon I hate being a demon I hate being a demon_ , he thinks, a consistent refrain. 

Over time he’s been able to stop saying ‘I hate myself’ as much, but the sentiment still remains. 

He finishes packing and Kanaya comes back down to collect him. She has with her a coffee cup that is actually full of soup from the cafeteria. 

“You look hungry,” she explains, and Karkat isn’t sure how to feel about that but he downs it anyways. It goes down hotly to his stomach. “Karkat…” 

He shakes his head. _Not now_. “Just. Thanks.”

The mood is somber. 

They exit the dorm to the street, where other students also appear to be taking their leave as well. The air is dry enough to make Karkat’s skin crawl. Kanaya leads them over to one car and Karkat realizes the full breadth of his situation. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Karkat stares at Rose and the person standing next to her. “Does this mean I have to stay with you? This has to be a joke.” 

Dave just nods back, giving one half-effort wave.

“Hello,” Rose greets. She smiles brightly at Kanaya, who leans down to kiss her. 

Karkat scowls. Fuck if he’s going to enjoy being cooped up for god knows how long with these two lovebirds and Dave while Karkat’s dealing with… _stuff_. 

“Hey Karkat,” Dave grins at him. “Excited to kick it at my place for a few days?”

“Fuck off,” Karkat growls. “You already know I find your fratty tendencies and come ons obnoxious, don’t try me. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. You know what, fuck it. I’d rather stay here in the city, take my chances ending my shitty existence--” 

“Karkat, _get in the car_ ,” Kanaya growls, and Karkat swears the world shifts a little bit around him. Fucking space demons. 

It’s not that Dave was that bad of a guy it’s just… Karkat doesn’t get it. Dave is obviously cooler than him. He had more of a social life than Karkat’s meager handful of sophomore friends. What did he want to do with Karkat? 

Dave shrugs and ignores the end of his tantrum, but there is a hint of a frown on his usually amused face. “You guys ready for a little road trip? I wanna beat all the other people also getting the fuck outta dodge. Also Rose, mom is blowing my phone the fuck up, can you tell her to chill.” 

It wasn’t the first time such attacks had occurred in their historically conservative city. 

The only reason Karkat and Kanaya went to school there was because of the fat scholarships they got. Some people were trying hard to see demon equality throughout the states, at least. This just happened to be the first attack of their second year. 

In other words, the students were no stranger to emergency protocols such as this. 

They get the sparse luggage into the car and speed out of the city. Karkat puts in earphones and listens to music, putting all his energy into ignoring the growing, restless sensation increasing under his skin with every moment. His messages build up on his phone as he uncharacteristically chooses to not check them. 

Fuck this. Fuck being a Blood demon for one thing, and extra fuck being the kind of mutated version he actually was. It wasn’t fair. 

It was fucked up that he was dependent on humans to survive. Kanaya wasn’t, she derived her power from the literal cosmos. Karkat hated that he couldn’t be like her.

It could be days before they left hiding. Days growing more and more restless, until it was bursting out of his body…

Karkat was totally fucked.

-

Dave and Rose’s place is a lovely, borderline country house on the outskirts of the suburbs. All white, with a lovely southern design and wrap-around porch. 

“I’ll get that, wouldn’t want my distinguished guest to have to carry in his own luggage,” Dave cracks as he swoops in and tries to grab Karkat’s bag for him. 

“I can carry my own shit, thanks,” Karkat snaps and grabs for his bag before Dave can do anything about it. 

He turns away from Dave and stomps over to the stairs leading up to the front floor. Just as he looks up, a woman with striking platinum blonde hair opens the door. 

“Rose! Dave! Thank goodness you two are safe.” 

The woman, who Karkat assumes is their mom, reunites with her kids while Karkat and Kanaya stand off to the side watching uncomfortably. 

“You must be Kanaya and Karkat,” the woman with the blonde hair responds after breaking away from and turning to them. 

Karkat gapes at her, immediately shocked by what he sees. 

She.

She has bright pink eyes. Unnatural eyes for a human. The only kind of eyes she could have if--

“Roxy! Are they here?” Someone says before appearing behind her in the doorway. 

_What the fuck_. 

In the doorway, Karkat recognizes a being that could only be one of the most powerful demons he’s ever seen. 

The demon approaches them after hugging Rose and Dave in greeting as well. “I’ve heard so much about you two! I am so excited to meet you. Especially you, Kanaya,” she adds with a wink. 

The blonde human speaks. “I suppose we should officially introduce ourselves. I’m Roxy, and this is Callie, my wife. We are Rose and Dave’s parents.” 

Dave and Rose’s mom have bright pink eyes because she’s soul-bonded to a fucking royal demon. 

“Thank you for taking us in during this time,” Kanaya says, thankfully speaking because Karkat has forgotten how to for a moment. He can’t seem to remember how to shut his jaw, either. “I’m sorry that we are finally meeting under such circumstances.” 

He’s barely paying attention to the ongoing conversation as he processes this information.

This means that _Dave’s_ mom is bonded to a demon. 

It’s shocking for so many reasons. Karkat never expected this. Suddenly it all makes sense; why they were going to Rose and Dave’s place of all people, beyond Kanaya being friends with Karkat. Their parents actually had a stake in demon well-being.

“Oh it’s quite alright! We’re glad you’re here, no matter that. We hope everyone else got out alright…” Callie trails off. 

Roxy continues. “We called Rose as soon as we got the alert from the city and offered for you to stay immediately! But let’s get inside! You all must be so tired from the drive!” 

Didn’t ask for Karkat to stay, though. Did Kanaya specifically ask to bring him too? She shouldn’t have got out on a limb for him like that, he didn’t deserve it. She should have been safe, left to meet her girlfriend’s apparently very-demon-friendly parents without his dead weight. Unless he was there for moral support in case things went badly… Yeah, that was probably it. 

They are herded inside, bringing in the luggage. 

“I am so sorry you two had to experience this,” the demon, Callie, expresses in low, comforting tones to Karkat and Kanaya as they enter the house. “It must be scary to happen so close to school.” 

It definitely does seem like the elephant in the room. But shit, knowing he’s in the home of a powerful space demon does make him feel pretty safe. 

Roxy shows them the upstairs guest room they will be sharing, “because Kanaya will not be allowed to sleep in Rose’s room, don’t start with me young lady, yes I know I’m being a hypocrite do as I say not as I do, love you too honey”.

“Mother, I am almost twenty and am of consenting age.” 

“Haha, not in my house, sweetheart.”

“Thank you Mrs. Lalonde,” Kanaya says respectfully to Roxy after being shown the room. “You both have a lovely home.” The guest room really is nice. The bed is large enough for both demons to share with a heap of pillows. The flooring is wood covered with soft knitted rugs. 

Their home smells like cinnamon spice and oak, and Karkat can’t remember the last time a scent made him feel so at ease. He’s going to need all the ‘ease’ he can get in order to survive the next few days. 

Roxy grins. “Well it’s lovely to meet you and see my kids, so soon after school started again! I wasn’t expecting them until the holidays. Alrighty then, I’ll go on and let you get settled in. Dinner should be ready in a couple of hours!” 

Dave follows her with an awkward wave. “I’ll be pumping up my Tony C-- _Hawk_. Uh. My Tony Hawk numbers, downstairs, on the TV, if anyone wants to join me. That referring to any demon or human in the vicinity that might be interested.” He quickly pivots and sinks downstairs. 

Rose rolls her eyes and turns to Kanaya, smiling at her. 

Karkat is hit with envy that he immediately pushes down. That exchange, the bond that passes between them, that’s something he’ll never have. Not anymore. 

His kind don’t just get to end up with a special someone. Well, not his kind, exactly. But Karkat both was and wasn’t what he was supposed to be. 

He huffs and goes to pull out his laptop and a pair of headphones he can ignore the rest of the world with. 

Outside the shuttered window, the gloomy day blends into nightfall, and the countryside is deafeningly quiet compared to the loudness of their city university. Karkat is not used to this environment, but he finds that he likes it. 

Rose and Kanaya thankfully leave as as Karkat pulls up a movie to watch, getting comfortable on the bed. Thank fuck, he has the room to himself for a few minutes. 

He keeps the door closed, but doesn’t hear over the sound of the movie. 

Suddenly the door is opening, revealing Dave. 

Karkat pulls the headphones off and glares at him. “What do you want.”

“I dunno I figured we could hang out together for a little bit, considering we’re both stuck in this shit situation together.”

“Not interested.” He tries to put the headphones back on but Dave seems determined to annoy him. 

“What are you watching?” He asks, stepping closer to the bed. 

The twisted Blood demon inside him yells, demanding Karkat get closer to Dave, to seek out the connection that could be made between them. 

“None of your business,” Karkat growls, ignoring it. _He can do this_. 

“Is it embarrassing? It totally sounds like it’s embarrassing.”

“Fuck off! What part of that statement are you incapable of understanding? You don’t have to pretend like you actually want to spend time with me. I know I’m staying here in your home but don’t feel like you have to humor me. Sorry you didn’t get to take any of your hundred other frat bros home with you that would have been better company.” Karkat stops talking and he feels acid at the back of his throat. 

Dave just stares at him. “Uh. Okay. Yeah. Right. Uh. You’re right. I’ll just… I’ll just go.” 

When Karkat eventually gets called to eat with them for dinner, the table is fully set for six. 

Roxy made chicken with roasted potatoes and buttered green beans for the humans. 

“Rose told me you two eat human food, right?” Roxy asks as she brings a raw cowboy ribeye steak over to Callie. “Because we have raw meat, too.”

“Human food is fine, Mrs. Lalonde,” Kanaya responds. Karkat just nods. He’s not really feeling like words right now. 

Despite being surrounded by these people, he’s clamping down hard on his abilities. It would be too much to handle right now, sensing all the bonds in the room, the ones attaching to him, to each other, including the ones he might be hungry for-- _don’t think about it_. 

“It’s so nice to finally meet you two!” Callie says cheerily after a bite of her steak. 

“Uh… Yeah,” Karkat says when Kanaya doesn’t immediately respond. Something about that statement from Callie is kind of weird, but he can’t put his finger on it. “Rose and Dave never mentioned having a demon for a mom. But uh… thanks for having us over. Me over, in particular. I’m not that great of friends with you guys but…” 

Kanaya gives Karkat a look. 

“Don’t be ridiculous! Dave told us--” 

“ _Mom_ ,” he hisses. 

Karkat’s eyes snap over to Dave, observing how red the human’s face looks, and something in his stomach curls and twists and begs to come out. Karkat sucks in a deep breath and holds it, trying to fight it back. 

It’s too much, too soon. He’s got a day before this will become too much to control here. 

“Uuh, yeah dog,” Dave says after a moment. “Didn’t you know? I got two moms. I was a fuckin’ test tube baby.” 

“It’s true,” Rose follows. “What a fascinating experiment in nature versus nurture. Our genetic father was apparently a pornographer.”

“Rose!” Roxy admonishes, slightly horrified. 

Rose and Dave just laugh while their human mother huffs. Karkat eats, hoping it will decrease some of his hunger. 

It doesn’t. 

Eventually the curiosity becomes too much to handle.

“Okay, sorry if this is totally uncalled for, but how did you two meet?” _Human-demon relationships aren’t exactly the industry standard back home_ , he implies. 

They both grin and look at each other lovingly. Fucking shit, Karkat is totally envious of Dave and his stupidly happy cross-species parents. 

“At a conference,” Roxy answers. “Callie was interested in crossing the bridge between space magic and technology to make renewable energy.”

“Stop making it sound like you met in college. Karkat, they met when they were sixteen,” Rose provides. 

So much makes sense now- why Kanaya wasn’t worried about meeting Rose’s parents, why they were going to Rose’s place. They literally had a demon for a parent. Dating demons was normal to them. 

No wonder Dave cracked so many jokes he thought he could get away with about demons. 

Yeah, well. It didn’t make that okay. 

And just because Dave was friends with John, who was Karkat’s roommate, and the two were in the same frat together, didn’t make it okay for Dave to constantly drop in on his dorm space. 

The family ends up catching up quite a bit, the parents peppering conversation with questions at Kanaya and Karkat about their studies and interests. Callie keeps beaming at them, and it only makes Karkat feel even worse. 

Can she tell what kind of demon he is? He likes to think he does a good job hiding it, but she’s powerful. 

What would she think of him if she really knew what he was? Would she think him lesser? Karkat knows he sure would. 

He ends up eating another plateful of food to deal with his underlying desire and excuses himself for the night.

“Oh, we were going to play some games!” Callie says, frowning as Karkat stands from the table.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Karkat sighs. 

When he wakes up in the morning, the restlessness immediately grazes under his skin. It wants out, it wants to feed. Karkat stumbles out to the bathroom and blindly follows the strongest bond, singing to him the loudest, and finds himself awake in front of Dave’s door. 

His eyes fly wide open, his back going rod straight. 

Shit, shit, shit, he almost lost control. He needs to stay away from Dave, and honestly, everyone should stay away from him.

Cool morning light filters through the windows. Maybe he can get away with just staying in the guest room all day. 

He goes and sits on one of the rugs of the room where pillows from the bed are stacked, pulling out his laptop so he can finish a reading assignment. 

At some point, he wonders if Roxy ever has to go out when it’s not safe for Demonkind and covers her eyes with contacts. 

He wonders, briefly and painfully, if he’ll ever get to see the red of his magic in someone else’s eyes. 

Knowing he won’t, he pushes the thought from his head. 

-

Roxy is up and making breakfast, and Karkat, honestly hungry for human food, is the first one down. 

He’s just in time to catch Callie setting the table without moving a finger. When Roxy is busy with cracking eggs, Callie is busy flipping french toast on the griddle with a wave of her hand. To them, it appears business as usual. Karkat is slightly in awe of their inherently synergistic relationship.

Roxy waves at Karkat and yawns. “Help yourself to some coffee if you’re into that,” she offers, gesturing to the appliance while it finishes percolating. “I know how you college kids get.” 

“Oh fuck yes,” you say, and Callie snickers at your language. Apparently too early for you to censor around your… friends? Parents. 

“My goodness, Dave certainly did warn us you could have a mouth,” she teases. 

Karkat shoots her a surprised glance, his eyebrows raising all the way. “Dave talked about me?” What the hell was he saying about Karkat? That he was loud and annoying and wanted to be alone and it sucks that he was John’s roommate?

He’s distracted by this line of thinking, so he doesn’t see the expressions exchanged between Roxy and Callie. 

“Well, uh,” Roxy says, breaking eye contact with her… wife? Soul-bound demon? “Why don’t you go on and sit down, honey. I’ll have some food out to you in a minute. Callie, could you go wake everyone else up?”

“Yes, though I’m sure they want to sleep in?” 

Something must pass between them because Callie then leaves to go upstairs. 

Roxy comes over to the table with a plate of eggs and sets it down in the middle of the table before standing back and looking right at Karkat.

“Karkat. Are uh. Are you and Dave very close?” 

Karkat takes a loud sip of his coffee. “Not really.” 

“That’s uh. That’s uh. Hm,” is all Roxy says, expression becoming pensive as she returns to the stove. 

“Wait, why?” Karkat asks. 

“No reason,” Roxy sighs, returning to the stove. “My son just takes after me it seems.” 

Karkat turns to blink at her in confusion, but she’s already busy attending to the food.

-

Dave comes to bother Karkat again. Karkat snaps at him.

He thinks back to what Dave’s mom had asked, about him and Dave being close… Maybe they were? At some point? Karkat doesn’t really recall, because ruminating on all his self-inhibited bonds makes him woozy. This is just another reason why being a demon sucks, because abilities are so intertwined with facets of normal functioning that it’s difficult to go without them and not sacrifice something. It’s for the best everyone leave him alone anyways now. Inevitably, he will be found out and killed, hurting anyone that bothered to care about him in the first place. 

As Dave leaves, Karkat sinks back into his head, trying to find the key answer to what existed before between them that he can’t really access. All he comes up with is static and intense, welling need that strikes his stomach. 

Nope, not happening. Not worth it. He can deal with a few fuzzy memories versus getting too hungry. 

But in the silence that follows, Karkat finds himself again wishing that Kanaya hadn’t brought him along. 

-

“You know I used to think our exchanges was just a thing we did but now I’m starting to think Karkat actually hates me,” Dave groans to Kanaya and Rose, who look up at him from watching a show on the couch. 

Kanaya frowns. “Karkat doesn’t hate you.” 

“Oh yeah? Well he’s made it pretty explicitly clear as of this year that he wants nothing to do with me or John or anyone ever since he fell off the face of the planet over the summer.” 

Kanaya watches him for a long moment, wilting. Rose frowns at her, before Kanya inhales and beings to speak. “I apologize for his behavior. Karkat has been… unwell, lately. I didn’t realize the extent of it until now.” 

“Define ‘unwell’. What’s up, does he have demon cancer? Something else weird? Just hit me with it. Or better yet, just be upfront with me and tell me what shit I said put him over the line.” 

“Dave, it’s not about you. He’s just… He’s going through a rough time.”

“A rough time.” Dave repeats blankly, still a little exasperated. 

“Human men, I swear I must put all things in the most simple of terms for them to understand,” Kanaya quips. Rose chortles and Dave snorts. Then she looks dead on at him. “Dave, he’s maturing.” 

“Okay, so what, is he going through like, demon puberty late or something? Demons mature all the time and it’s no big deal I’ve ever heard about. It just means you start becoming a full functioning demon, right? Get all your sick multidimensional energy powers granted by the gods in the tenth plane?” 

“Short answer, yes. But in Karkat’s case… it’s not so simple. Do you know what kind of demon he is? 

“Well, I know you guys are in the same ‘caste’, right? Am I using that word right?”

“Besides that.”

Dave just looks back at her. Kanaya sighs. “Dave, Karkat is a blood demon. But he’s… I don’t suppose there’s a better way to put this. Karkat is a mutant. And in the way that he’s Blood… You can’t tell this to anyone. You understand? He’s an incubus.”

Dave’s jaw drops and he turns his head to the stairs where Karkat still is. “What, what? You’re saying that Karkat, to feed, he needs to like--” 

Kanaya nods at him. “Before it started to come out, over the last year, he was fine. He went out with us, we all remember. But once he realized about the other end of it… he cut himself off from all of everyone. It’s making him very sick. His perception is twisted.” 

“... He’s starving himself,” Dave says aloud, a revelation. 

Kanaya just nods sadly. 

“ _Why_?” 

“You know why. He thinks people will hate him if they find out.” 

Dave frowns. “But we don’t.” 

Kanaya sighs. “I know that. You know that…. But he doesn’t.” 

-

**ONE YEAR AGO**

When John shows up at the party with Karkat and Kanaya in tow, Dave doesn’t think much of it. Kanaya goes off to socialize elsewhere while the three of them rib in the kitchen. Karkat gives John a hard time for not knowing how to do laundry since his dad did it for him all the way until he got to college. 

Dave decides that he likes Karkat immediately. 

As the night wears on, he convinces Karkat to play drinking games with him, and it’s great. 

Until something happens. Kanaya is all the way across the room, but Karkat’s head suddenly swivels in her direction with concern. Dave notices with confusion as Karkat stops mid-conversation and beelines over to Kanaya where he grabs the arm of a guy passing by and yanks him back over to them. 

“Hey asshole,” he yells, loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the room. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to ask before grabbing someone’s ass?” 

And then he punches him in the face. 

Holy shit, Dave _really_ likes this guy. 

-

Dave is studying in John’s dorm and Karkat is sitting at his desk, typing up an essay with headphones in to drone out Dave and John’s chatter. 

His phone goes off. Karkat answers it immediately. 

“Hey Nep, what’s up?” 

Silence follows as his friend on the other end of the line says something.

“What? Of course it’s fine for you to call. Don’t be stupid. Sorry. Ridiculous.” 

He goes quiet again.

“Yeah. Uh. Always.” 

A few more moments. 

“He did _WHAT_?” Karkat yells, standing up out of his chair. He glances over at his roommate and visitor, then races out of the room. “Hold on--” 

Yeah, this guy is awesome. 

Everyone knew by the end of first year that Dave liked Karkat. 

But like a coward, the time slips away, and it was soon summer already. 

_I’ll tell him beginning of sophomore year_ , Dave tells himself. 

It wasn’t soon enough. 

-

“Hey, uh, can we talk?” Dave asks from the door. 

Karkat glances up from his laptop then back at the screen after seeing Dave. “What’s there to talk about,” he grumbles in response. 

Dave steps further into the room. “Uh, listen,” he starts. Karkat tenses but doesn’t look at him. “I guess I’m just trying to uh… I guess I just know I did something wrong and I wanted to know if you could tell me… what I did?” 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Karkat responds without thinking about it.

His eyes dash up and he watches something flicker across Dave’s face. “Okay but like--” 

“Dave, just. Just go. Please. Leave me alone.” 

“Fine, okay. Maybe I did something wrong, and you won’t tell me, but even then...” He pauses, breath held. “I… I know something’s wrong with you.” Exhales. 

“What?” Karkat says, jerking his head back to Dave standing there. “There’s nothing wrong with me, fuck off.”

“You’re Blood,” Dave continues on. “I’m not stupid. You’re not feeding yourself.” 

Karkat freezes. 

“You’re not feeding yourself and it’s fucking you up, dude. Let me… let me help you.” He steps toward him and Karkat reacts by pushing off the bed, stepping back and away from the human. 

“What the-- Stop. You don’t understand.” What the fuck is Dave doing? 

“Yeah, of course I don’t fucking understand. Dude, all I’m asking if for us to hang out, because I feel like we used to do that pretty often? Unless there’s something else you need? Which like, I would be totally open to helping you out with whatever it is.” 

“... The fuck are you implying?” Karkat growls. 

“Uh. Nothing. Just uh. If you maybe. Whatever it is you need to feed off of I’m offering? Even if that kind of thing is of the more… carnal flavored variety.”

“What does that mean.” 

Dave tenses. Karkat doesn’t take his eyes off of him and the human squirms. “You know like. If the sort of Blood bond feeding thing you need to do involves a bit more... physical... bonding?” 

Understanding hits Karkat like cold water tossed at him. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grits out. Dave doesn’t react, just stands there blinking at him.

Dave runs a nervous hand down his neck, fidgeting under Karkat’s gaze. 

“Okay, well, I just thought I would put it out there, you know like, putting myself first in line to get ravaged by a sexy demon, if that’s even remotely a chance of something that could happen.”

Karkat’s gaze turns from suspicious to a full glare as Dave finally realizes the weight of his words. He opens and closes his mouth several times like a fish. “I--I-- Wait. That’s not what I meant.” 

Rage and shame passes over Karkat’s face. He points at the door. “Get out you fucking insincere asshole!” 

Dave looks surprised, his jaw dropping open, but he takes a defensive stance and starts backing towards the door. “Okay, fuck, sorry, that’s not what I meant!” 

“GET OUT.” _Fuck, everyone in the house probably heard that._

Dave is out of the room in a flash. 

What the fuck was that? Karkat just snapped at him again, like he has done several times now with how on edge he’s been, but he’s only now registering the words. Was Dave actually…? No. There’s no way. 

But as Karkat thinks on it even more, he just feels more and more confused, filled with more questions. 

Nothing feels right. 

It’s not much later, with little time to comprehend the interaction, that Karkat hears a soft knock on the door. 

“Come in,” he mutters, expecting Kanaya, but then the door is pushed open to reveal Dave’s demon mom, Callie. 

Karkat sits up in bed and gapes at her, setting his book to the side. She smiles sadly at him. It’s still kind of terrifying to be in the same room as her.

“Karkat, is everything alright? I thought I might have heard yelling. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” 

“It’s nothing.” Karkat lies, feeling instantly guilty for lying to Dave’s mom. “Sorry if I was loud, I know I’m not the greatest houseguest.”

Callie shakes her head. “You’ve been fine, Karkat. You’re under a lot of stress! Are you doing alright otherwise?”

“I’m fine,” Karkat answers. 

Callie frowns at him. “Karkat,” she sighs, and he can hear the pity in her voice as she steps inside and closes the door behind he securely. “I can tell something is wrong. I just want you to know that demon to demon, you can talk to me.” 

“I don’t need your help,” _Or parenting_. “I’ve been fine on my own so far.”

It’s not true, he’s terrified. His demon is finally maturing, soon he the cravings will be unbearable, and it will be even worse with his mutant issue. 

Callie seems to know this. 

She only just smiles at him, so frustratingly understanding. 

Can she ever understand how much he hates himself? He’s already a demon, which sucks to begin with, and he’s a fucked up one at that. He’ll always be dependent on other people to survive. If other people were to find out the reality… he’d be cast out for sure. 

“Karkat, you’re unwell,” she observes aloud. 

“You don’t--” he balks, not sure of the words. “You’re a space demon. You wouldn’t… you wouldn’t understand.” 

“But I am still a demon. I know what it is like to be vilified, but I also know what it is like to find love. You’re Blood. You need people, you need to make connections with them.” 

Karkat looks away and shakes his head. “It’s not just that.” 

“Oh?”

He can’t look at her. 

She comes over to the bed and sits next to him, giving him a soft smile. “May I?” She offers, holding out a claw for him to take.

Karkat frowns at her. She waves her hand, beckoning him closer with a small smile. He complies, offering his hand to her, and with it, reaching out ever so slightly with his magic.

Callie’s Space swallows him immediately. She’s so _heavy_ , it’s like she’s everywhere. Her real form must be so big it can’t even fit on this plane. No wonder Roxy’s eyes are so goddamn bright when she’s attached to all that power. 

Then she’s gone, and blinking back at him with understanding in her eyes. “Oh, Karkat,” she whispers. 

“I don’t need your pity,” he growls, backing away and shrinking in on himself, chest filling with heaviness. “Thanks for letting me stay here but you guys really should just leave me alone. It’s best for all of you.” 

“Karkat…”

He turns away from her. “Please. I just want to be alone. I’m not your kid.” 

Callie sighs and stands. “If that’s what you want, Karkat. But I will be here for you if you need me, no matter what.” She crosses the room back to the door and then turns to look back at him. “One more thing... I know my son. I know that Dave means you no ill will. He may not always be the most… tactful… person, but he does mean well. If anything, try to let him in a little?” 

Karkat nods stiffly, not looking at her. He can’t let Dave in. If he does that he’s going to want more. Dave shouldn’t want him. He’s damaged, not right, and hungry for the worst thing a demon could possibly ever need. 

Later on, Karkat finds himself thinking about it all again. About how Callie hadn’t been horrified with what he really was. 

He never would have expected someone’s parent to be so okay with them consorting with an incubus, but all he felt was support from her. 

He guesses Dave is an adult.

Wait, why’s he humoring that thought anyways? 

_”If anything, try to let him in a little.”_

He shivers just thinking about it, letting himself start to accept that he might just need Dave’s help and that maybe, just maybe, Dave actually wants to help him. 

-

Karkat sneaks down the stairs, straining to hear for any activity in the house. 

All he can make out is the sound what seems to be a game played in the living room. 

As expected, Dave is sitting on the couch. He doesn’t seem to notice Karkat’s approach. 

Where is everyone else? In the kitchen? They aren’t here at least. 

He stands there for far too long before Dave notices him. Karkat jumps a little bit but Dave just nods and turns back to the game. 

“Sup,” Dave says in monotone disinterest. 

Karkat frowns and opens his mouth, and nothing comes out. He exhales and tries again. 

“Dave… can I talk to you for a moment?” 

“Uh,” Dave pauses the game. “Sure.” He moves to look at Karkat. “What’s up.” 

“... Upstairs?”

Dave gapes at him for a moment before popping up to standing. “Oh, sure. Yeah, totally.”

“Great.” Karkat says stiffly. He heads up to the guest room and waits for Dave to follow him in. 

Dave thankfully closes the door behind him. Karkat swivels to face him as soon as he gets to the wall, but avoids his gaze. It’s so hard to look at him. He hates this so much. 

“I… I need help.” 

“Uh, okay,” Dave says, sounding unsure. 

Karkat huffs. “So you know what I need to feed off of.”

Dave is still. “Yeah,” he whispers. 

Karkat rubs a hand up and down his arm anxiously. “With everything going on I haven’t been able to… feed. And I’m…yeah. You were right. I’m so hungry. I feel empty.”

Dave seems to wait with his breath held. 

Karkat exhales strongly. “What I’m getting at is… would you maybe be willing to let me… feed… off… you….” He only makes eye contact with Dave for the last bit and he swears the human jolts a little bit. “If you were still offering. Earlier. Or just tell me you were joking already.” 

“Wait what? Seriously?”

Karkat glares back at him as Dave continues to comprehend.

“Like, I can totally mack on you?” 

Karkat’s eyebrows furrow momentarily at his sudden enthusiasm. “Don’t get excited, you’re doing me a service.” 

Or maybe he’s just a horny college aged boy who’s willing to do whoever, but Karkat doesn’t like how that interpretation makes him feel either. 

“Right. Totally, totally. So like, right now? Right now right now?”

“No, in three weeks. Yes Dave, right now.” 

Dave smiles at him, and Karkat is surprised by how genuine it feels. 

Then Dave is walking towards him. 

“Seriously though, I can kiss you?”

Karkat feels his face heating up. He nods once, sharply. 

“Just saying, this isn’t how I imagined our first time going.”

“Just get it over with,” Karkat growls, not really registering the statement as his face turns flaming red. Heat radiates down his neck. Dave frowns momentarily. 

Suddenly he’s standing in front of him and Karkat has forgotten how to breathe. His blood senses are on the cusp of breaking out, he can barely hold them back now. 

He makes eye contact with Dave and a shiver runs from his head all the way to his toes. He jolts slightly, and then Dave is reaching out to cup his face and close the distance as he kisses the demon.

Karkat’s entire body slackens as the kiss opens immediately, hungry, and Dave turns his head to kiss him wetly. Fire burns through him immediately, yearning for more. 

Karkat’s insides immediately turn to jelly as Dave forms his lips against him. 

It really feels incredible. Karkat doesn’t know if it’s the immense relief of the promise of feeding or if it’s just… 

Genuinely a nice kiss. 

Dave kisses him and Karkat finds himself finally kissing back. He opens his mouth up to Dave, enjoying the way their mouths moved together. The jelly-like sensation in his stomach turns to heat. 

It is actually pretty damn nice, but is it because he’s so hungry, or is it... because it’s Dave? 

Eventually Dave pulls away from him, grinning. He shouldn’t look so happy about this. Doesn’t he realize how fucked up Karkat is? But he’s just grinning and needily tugging at Karkat’s clothes in a way that indicates desire of so much more. 

Karkat’s face relaxes some out of the scowl, mostly just in awe of Dave and the expression on his face. Karkat never expected to feel this _wanted_. 

Dave sways towards him and takes a grip of the hem of Karkat’s shirt, playing with it. Karkat looks away, flushing red and frowning. Dave peels Karkat’s shirt off with a little work. Then he follows with taking off his own shirt.

Now Dave is standing in front of him shirtless and smiling and 

_Okay he’s really hot._

Karkat wants to touch him so badly. Dave is immediately on his mouth again, winding his hands around Karkat’s bare back and letting them run from his waist up to his arms. Karkat actually finds himself slipping into this one, bringing his hands up to Dave’s face and burying both hands in Dave’s hair near frantically as need grips him. 

It kind of feels like Dave is pretty into it, but Karkat hasn’t dipped back into his demonhood yet. He can’t sense his motivations. He’s just so confused, still, that Dave wants him at all. 

Maybe even if to just get some. But even then… Most wouldn’t want to sleep with an incubus, but Dave is… Well. Karkat is starting to realize now how much Dave is different. 

The kissing heats up, body pressed against body. Dave is so human, so soft, and the sensation of his skin against Karkat’s bare chest feels like everything Karkat has ever wanted.

Dave presses in closer, holding Karkat against him. 

It gets to be too much to handle for both of them. 

“Can I… can touch you?” Dave asks in a whisper, pausing against Karkat’s lips. Karkat nods frantically and just kisses him again, so full with yearning need that he’s about to break. 

After unbuttoning Karkat’s pants with one hand, Dave’s hand hovers over his stomach, questioning. 

“Touch me,” Karkat commands in a gasp, feeling himself break. Dave slips a hand into his pants. 

There’s an element, Karkat becomes aware, of insecurity that comes with being a demon in the bedroom. The insecurity of not being human with another human. 

What if he’s too much, too unlike Dave? What if when he gets unclothed with him Dave doesn’t like what is underneath? 

But then Dave is slipping his fingers under the waistband of Karkat’s underwear and taking ahold of his bulge- wait, when did that come out? He must have been too caught up in Dave’s mouth to notice. 

The human’s pants are obviously tenting, and he doesn’t seem fazed by Karkat’s relatively inhuman nature. His strokes are somewhat fumbling, and Karkat thinks he might be shaking but if Dave is then he certainly is too. 

Karkat gasps into Dave’s mouth and Dave takes advantage of it to nip and Karkat’s lower lip. Karkat makes a small noise and kisses him again, running his claws down Dave’s bare back. It makes him more confident, and Karkat cries out as Dave strokes him fully. 

“No one’s gonna… no one’s gonna bother us?” Karkat asks, breaking away from Dave’s mouth for a moment. It’s hard to be coherent when Dave is touching him all over like this and overwhelming after going so long without anything like it. 

Dave shakes his head and presses his lips to Karkat’s again, and Karkat can’t find it in himself to care if anyone walks in on them as he dives into Dave’s mouth once more. 

His breaths increase in pace as Dave continues to stroke him, not too tight or too light. 

“Is this okay?” Dave asks in a whisper. Karkat just nods. 

His hands wander, coming to tug at Dave’s pants. Dave gasps softly into his mouth and starts to take off his own pants, getting it all to his knees and shoving out of them with his feet. He springs out against Karkat, who immediately reaches out to touch him. 

“Karkat, fuck,” Dave sighs, and walks Karkat until the back of his legs hit the bed. “I want you so badly.” Karkat hops up and Dave works to tug his pants off, keeping his mouth on Karkat’s the entire time. Moments later they are both naked, and Karkat feels so exposed, but he pulls away to look at Dave who is just grinning at him. 

“Hey hotstuff,” he whispers. 

Karkat flushes and tugs over to kiss him, hauling him on to the bed with him. His head lands on the pillow with Dave above him. His body feels like it’s on fire. 

Dave puts his lips to Karkat’s neck and sucks, working the length up until he gets to Karkat’s ear. 

“How do you want me,” he murmurs. 

_Oh fuck_ , that’s hot. Dave just… offering himself up to him. But he’s… shaking.

Karkat swallows against all his anxiety. “Dave, are you okay?”

“I… oh,” Dave says as Karkat puts a hand on his shoulder, physically stilling him. He laughs a little, shakily. “Yeah yeah I’m fine, just, fuck.” He leans forward and puts his head to Karkat’s shoulder. His breath is warm on Karkat’s skin. “I’m just nervous about fucking this up, you know. Goddamnit, I’m fucking it up, aren’t I.” 

“You’re not…” Karkat starts to say, struggling for words. “You’re not fucking this up. Not even a little bit. And I don’t think there’s any way you even could.”

Dave laughs breathily, a wheeze. “Okay, that’s good to know. I mean I’m also just… excited. Kinda wanted to do this with you for awhile. Like, fuck man, you’re really hot.” Karkat blinks in confusion for a moment and doesn’t respond, so Dave continues speaking. “Uh, anyways. Question still stands, how do you want me.”

Karkat shakes off the suddenly growing doubt, trying not to bite at Dave for saying such bullshit. “I… I don’t know. Would… would you maybe fuck me?”

Dae pulls away to look at him. “Like, be inside you?”

Karkat just nods. 

“Oh, fuck yes,” Dave says, leaning forward to kiss Karkat again.

It’s not sexy, the way they fumble, a mess of limbs and general inexperience on both ends, but finally Dave is lined up, pressing against Karkat’s entrance. 

“Can I…?”

Karkat just nods, and then Dave is pushing into him.

_Fuck_. It’s so much, it’s so good. He hisses and Dave stops. “Are you…”

Karkat squeezes his arms, pulls him down. “I didn’t say stop!” 

Dave just gapes at him and pushes in further. 

Finally he’s to the bottom, and Karkat feels so full, almost to bursting. He’s so scared to just let go, through. 

Dave gives one thrust, testing, and Karkat groans. 

Then he’s laughing.

“What?!” Karkat yells. 

“No, no, it’s not that, I just….” Dave leans over to kiss his cheek as he thrusts in again, finding a movement he’s comfortable with. “I’ve thought about doing this with you for so long.”

Karkat’s hold on his abilities snaps. 

The magic stretches out, sensing the bond between Dave and Karkat. 

It is

Karkat is overwhelmed with how strong it is. It’s so strong it’s almost overwhelming. It doesn’t make any sense. Dave breaks away from his mouth to kiss down to Karkat’s neck. 

He reaches further, trying to understand. He touches Dave with his senses, who gasps and breaks away for a moment “Karkat? Is that you? Holy shit-- I can feel you, fuck, that feels _amazing_.”

The information being relayed to Karkat through his powers doesn’t make sense to him at first.

It just doesn’t compute. But the truth is undeniable, because Karkat is seeing the literal color of Dave’s soul. He’s far too deep in it right now. The connection between them is perfect, and scarily intimate. 

Dave has pulled away, still holding Karkat in his arms, and gazing at him reverently. 

Karkat meets his eyes, and he starts to realize it. 

Dave... actually has feelings for him. Dave actually likes him. Beyond all sense, Dave _likes_ him. He can’t deny it, not when he’s elbow deep in sensing Dave’s soul like this. 

“Y-you,” Karkat wheezes. He’s drunk on it- the kissing, the love he feels from Dave, the physical connection. He is full to the brim. He feels alive. 

_I don’t deserve this_. 

“Yeah?” Dave breathes. 

“You like me, don’t you?”

Dave tenses and then laughs nervously. “Uh I mean, I thought that part was kind of obvious?”

“This… This whole time?” 

He nods. 

Karkat is kissing him then, practically attacking him. His hands bury into his hair. The shock ebbs away as need replaces it. 

Suddenly he can’t touch Dave _enough_.

As he kisses him, Dave thrusts into Karkat again, reaching his fingers between their bodies to wrap one around Karkat’s bulge with his hand. It’s not perfect, Dave is half leaning on one side of Karkat’s body now, but neither seems to mind. 

“You don’t have to—“ Karkat tries to say but Dave shakes his head. 

“Want to,” he breathes with exertion. 

The thrusts do feel really good. 

Karkat grabs Dave’s face to make him look at him. 

“Dave, come for me. I think… I think I need you to.” 

“I— oh fuck, that’s hot,” Dave says in aroused realization. “Karkat, I’m gonna—“ His hips stutter, hand around Karkat’s bulge spasming. 

Karkat feels the sensation rise up within him, more full that he thought he could ever be, and through their newfound connection, the pleasure radiates right to Karkat. 

“Dave,” is all he says before he releases, and it’s so good it almost hurts, tears pricking at his eyes. 

When it’s over Karkat opens his eyes and Dave is smiling down at him. 

“Uh, hey,” Karkat says. 

Dave’s looking at Karkat so fondly. He feels fond. 

Karkat feel the connection between them, and it feels good. Feels right. 

“You doin alright there?” Dave asks. 

Karkat nods, exhaling. “Yeah… mostly because uh,” his cheeks redden further. “I can tell you feel really good.” 

Dave just grins at him. “I really fucking do.” He laughs and leans down to peck Karkat’s cheek. 

Karkat realizes something. “Dave, fuck. The bed. I—“ 

“Shh, it’s fine. We’ll just toss it the wash.”

“But your parents?”

“Karkat… I’m pretty sure they know about this.”

“What? Dave you can’t be serious. Holy shit, I’m never gonna be able to look either or your moms in the eye ever again, I—“

“Hey hey hey, it’s fine, okay? I don’t really care right now.” He sighs and slumps forward on Karkat, embracing him. 

Karkat manages to catch his breath. “I… yeah. Okay.”

They lay there for a few moments before Dave speaks. “Do you… Do you feel better now?”

“Dave… you have no idea.”

“You can be a fucking idiot you know that right.” 

“Yeah,” Karkat breathes. 

“You’re not gonna do that again, right?”

“I…” Karkat hesitates, mind starting to run with questions about the future. But then he remembers and feels his tie to Dave, and he knows that he at least has this. For now. “No,” he says. “I’m not.” 

“Good,” Dave sighs. “Because I won’t let you, anyways.” 

Karkat opens his mouth to protest, but Dave is already busy covering it with his own.

-

Five years later, Dave and Karkat walk down a street hand in hand.

Dave wears shades, if only to conceal the astoundingly bright, bright red of his eyes.


End file.
